Making their way through the woods, Lilly and Jeffries followed the cutting sound around the back of the cabin, where they saw the large, weathered-looking man, now at least in his late fifties, swinging an axe down on the piece of wood, splitting it neatly in two.
“Steve Mitchum?”
He turned as the noticed them and gave a smirk.
“Didn’t know I was in Philly PD’s jurisdiction.” Steve said in a low graveling voice, resting the axe on his shoulder.
“How ‘bout you put the axe down, Steve?” Lilly asked.
Steve shrugged and tossed the axe aside. “Better?”
“Detectives Rush and Jeffries, Homicide.” Jeffries said with a frown, showing his shield.
Steve’s smirk faded slightly.
“You remember your old partner, Jeff Royce?” Lilly asked.
“What kinda question is that?” Steve asked.
“Must’ve been rough, getting kicked out of the CIA after that screw-up in Prague.” Lilly continued. “Suddenly Jeff shows up, bringing all that up again…”
“You don’t know a damn thing about what happened.” Steve said, with a hint of quiet menace. “I followed protocol on my end. Unfortunately, dead agents make better heroes, and live ones make better scapegoats. That was the day I learned exactly what I was worth to the Company. I told Bob Garrison he could kiss my ass, and you can tell him the offer still stands.”
“Lot of resentment there.” Jeffries said. “Maybe Jeff got caught in the middle.”
“I never had a beef with Jeff.” Steve said, softening his tone. “He was the only guy there to treat me like a human being after that. Saved my ass a dozen times. I owed him. He came to me, said he had one last job, off the books, and said he needed someone without formal ties to the agency anymore.”
“He was supposed to be watching someone in his neighborhood.” Lilly said.
Steve nodded. “Yeah, some Middle-Eastern guy, immigrated here in the early nineties, Omar… something. Apparently, there was some intel linking this guy to some possible terrorist activity. Somebody probably figured he was some sort of sleeper agent.”
“What did you think?” Jeffries asked.
Steve shook his head. “I don’t know. The guy wound up face down in the river before I could find out for sure. Some sort of boating accident, least that’s what they said.”
“You don’t believe it?” Lilly asked.
“We’d just spent the last forty years fighting one kind of badguys. Now, we were just starting to deal with a whole new kind we didn’t understand that well yet. I think Jeff didn’t know what to make of the guy after a while. I think it started wearing on him. That wasn’t his only problem either…”
***
(“Texarkana”)
Jeff gently tapped on the wall of the garage as he and Steve entered, and walked around the boat, to see Omar staring intently at a small TV on the counter.
Jeff held up the small gas can he was holding, when Omar turned to him. “Just returning this.” He said, placing the can on the floor of the garage. “Looks like me and the family aren’t gonna be able to go camping like we thought. Thanks anyway.” Jeff gestured to Steve. “You remember my friend Steve from the Fourth of July party.”
Omar nodded, then turned back to the TV.
Jeff and Steve both looked over to see what Omar was watching. Steve recognized the news anchor on the air as Mort Ackerman, that one he’d never liked. The show then cut to shots of the burned out building interiors they’d both seen on the news months ago.
“World Trade Center.” Steve said, shaking his head. “They probably have some new lead.”
Jeff sighed. “I can’t imagine what kind of person does that.”
“I can.” Omar said, dispassionately.
Jeff and Steve both looked at him.
“I lived among men who did things like this. It’s not just one region or religion that produces men like them. Men capable of anything can come from anywhere.” Omar said calmly. “Even America.”
Jeff and Steve both looked at each other uneasily.
Omar looked back at Jeff. “I called your work to reschedule our lunch but they said you were out.”
“Sorry, I had to meet a potential client.” Jeff said simply.
“Actually, you seem to be out whenever anyone calls, any time of day.” Omar continued.
“I meet with a lot of clients.” Jeff said coolly. “Anyways, we don’t want to take up any more of your time. I’ll call you and work out a time tomorrow.”
Omar nodded and turned back to the TV.
“All right, you got to meet him again.” Jeff said, as he and Steve walked from the garage to the street. “What do you make of him?”
“I’m still not getting a read on that guy.” Steve said with a sigh. “I mean, he’s hiding something. That’s obvious. Question is what? Gimme a little more time with the guy, maybe I can tell you.”
“We may not have it.” Jeff said.
“What do you mean?”
“This guy’s starting to get suspicious of me, plus Garrison’s running out of patience. He wants me to find out this guy’s deal soon. If he’s legit, fine. If I get even a hint that he’s not, well…”
Steve looked at Jeff. “What are you saying?”
Jeff gave a grim look. “I think you know what I’m saying.”
Steve leaned in closer. “Now, wait a minute. Some lowlife in East Germany that nobody’s gonna miss is one thing, but this is an American citizen on American soil. People are gonna miss this guy.”
“I know.” Jeff said, closing his eyes briefly.
“You sure about this?” Steve asked.
Jeff shook his head. “I’m not sure of anything these days.” Jeff turned to see some rustling in the bushes nearby. “What the hell?” He muttered quietly, walking over. His eyes widened suddenly as he pulled the thirteen year-old boy out from his hiding spot.
“Jimmy, what the hell are you doing?” Jeff yelled at his struggling son, gripping him by the arm. “Have you been following me?”
“You’re never around!” Jimmy said with a pouting look. “You’re always hanging out with someone else!” He gestured to an awkward-looking Steve. “I just wanted to find out why you’d rather be with them.”
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow.” Jeff said, releasing his grip on Jimmy. “I want you to go home for now.”
Jimmy’s eyes narrowed at his father. “You probably won’t even be here tomorrow.” He muttered.
“Jimmy!” Jeff barked. “Go home!”
Jimmy gave one last sullen look, then ran off in the direction of their house.
Steve looked at Jeff, who just shook his head and sighed…
***
“Gotta love the family drama that comes with teenagers.” Steve chuckled.
“So Jimmy was spying on his father?” Jeffries asked.
Steve shrugged. “Guess it ran in the family.”
Lilly nodded. “So maybe Jimmy saw some of what his father was up to.”
***
“Thanks for comin’ in, Jimmy.” Stillman said in his office with a nod.
Jimmy nodded as he sat down. “Yeah, sure. Anything I can do to help.”
Scotty shrugged. “You know we’re just tryin’ to solve your dad’s murder. We know you were just a kid back then. Maybe you don’t remember everything that happened back then.”
“I… I don’t understand.” Jimmy said, looking confused.
“We know you were following your dad around.” Stillman said. “Now maybe you saw something you didn’t understand at the time.”
Jimmy’s face sank slightly. “You heard about that, huh? Boy, was he mad after he caught me doing that. I was just as mad at him though.”
“For not bein’ around?” Scotty asked.
Jimmy smiled wistfully. “When I was growing up, the best moments of my life I remember were looking out the window and seeing my dad walking up the driveway whenever he got home. I mean I understand why he had to be away so much, but it was still hard not having him around.”
Scotty looked at Stillman, who had a solemn, knowing look on his face for just a moment.
“Anyway, after he retired, I was so excited cause I thought I was gonna get to see that sight everyday.” Jimmy’s smile faded into a slight frown. “Didn’t really work out that way though. That’s why I started sneaking around, spying on him. I figured I’d at least get to see him, even if he didn’t know about it. ” Jimmy chuckled at the memory. “I was actually kinda glad when he caught me doing that.. At least he was paying attention to me. He made me promise never to do it again.”
“You keep that promise?” Scotty asked, smiling slightly.
Jimmy chucked again. “No way! I just made sure I wouldn’t get caught again…”
***
(“Fall On Me”)
Jimmy smiled as he pulled the small receiver from the storage box in the basement. Sure enough, it was the very same one his father had shown him before.
Jimmy picked up the end and carefully plugged it into the nearby phone router He remember exactly what his dad had shown him, one of the few times he did show Jimmy something from his job, then held the receiver up to his ear.
“You know for someone trying to keep things quiet, I’m not sure calling me at my house is really the best way to go about it.” Jeff said, sitting in his study.
“This couldn’t wait.” Garrison said on the other end. “You found out anything more about him?”
Jeff sighed. “Not since the last time you asked about it. Is that really all you called about?”
“Actually, no, it’s not. I know you brought Mitchum in on this without telling anyone.” Jeff didn’t respond. “You really think I wouldn’t find out?”
“I know what I’m doing, all right?”
“I’m not so sure about that anymore.” Garrison said. “You got a hell of a lot of balls in the air. The Company, family, friends, neighbors. You were never that great a multi-tasker. Sooner or later, some things are gonna get dropped. You’d just better make damn sure I’m not one of them. Don’t forget your priorities, Jeff.”
“Right.” Jeff said, dryly.
“We’ll talk about this more after I get there on Tuesday.”
“Get there?” Jeff looked at the phone in confusion for a moment. “You’re coming here?”
“Just making sure you’re staying on course.”
“I don’t need anyone to babysit me!”
“I don’t think you’re in a position right now to be telling me what you need. This is too important for your stubborn pride to get in the way.”
“Maybe I got a problem with that.” Jeff said, coldly.
“Maybe I don’t care.” Garrison answered menacingly.
Jimmy swallowed hard and pulled the cord from the phone router.
***
“Never heard anyone talk to my dad like that.” Jimmy said, shaking his head.
“You remember when this phone call was?” Scotty asked.
“About a week before he died.” Jimmy said.
Stillman looked away in thought for a moment, then quickly looked back at Jimmy, and extended his hand. “Thanks, Jimmy. Call us if you think of anything else.”
Jimmy smiled, shook Stillman’s hand and walked out.
“So Jeff’s boss showed up in Philly a few days before Jeff gets killed.” Stillman said.
“Hell of a coincidence.” Scotty said.
“If Garrison decided Jeff had become a liability, it’s also a hell of an opportunity.”
| < Part 3 | Part 5 > |